How to Remove Cache From Chrome (Desktop and Mobile)

Open Chrome's three-dot menu and choose Delete browsing data — older versions call the same entry Clear browsing data. Set a time range, tick Cached images and files, untick everything else, then click Delete data. The shortcut Ctrl+Shift+Delete on Windows, or Cmd+Shift+Delete on a Mac, opens that window directly.

The short version of how to remove cache from Chrome is one dialog and one checkbox. The longer version matters because the same dialog also controls your cookies, your history and your saved passwords, and the difference between those is what decides whether you are still signed in afterwards.

Chrome keeps local copies of images, stylesheets and scripts so pages you have already visited load faster the next time. That cache is usually invisible and usually helpful. It turns into a nuisance when a site has been updated and Chrome keeps serving the old version, or when the folder has grown big enough that you want the disk space back.

Where to remove cache from Chrome on desktop

1. Open Chrome and click the three-dot More icon at the top right.

2. Choose Delete browsing data. On older builds the entry reads Clear browsing data and is sometimes nested under More tools. Both open the same window, and the keyboard shortcut skips the menu either way.

3. Set the time range. Desktop Chrome offers Last hour, Last 24 hours, Last 7 days, Last 4 weeks and All time. Pick All time if you are clearing the cache to shift a stale page, because a shorter range only removes files stored inside that window and the offending one is often older.

4. Tick Cached images and files and clear every other box. If your version still shows Basic and Advanced tabs, the cache option sits on both and behaves identically from either.

5. Click Delete data. Older versions label that button Clear data.

Nothing visible happens when it finishes, which is normal. The sign it worked shows up on the next page load: sites you use often take a moment longer than usual while Chrome rebuilds their files.

Remove cache from Chrome on Android and iPhone

The same dialog exists on mobile, with one extra time option and a slightly different route to the checkboxes.

On Android, tap the three-dot menu to the right of the address bar, tap Delete browsing data, then tap More options to reach the individual data types. Tick only Cached images and files, set the time range and tap Delete data. Google notes the duration defaults to the last 15 minutes, so change it before you confirm.

On iPhone and iPad, tap the three-dot menu at the bottom right, tap Delete browsing data, then tap Browsing data to choose the types. Leave the cache selected on its own, tap Confirm, then tap Delete browsing data. If that menu entry is missing, the same controls sit inside Chrome under Settings, then Privacy and security.

Clearing Chrome's cache on an iPhone leaves Safari untouched, because the two browsers keep separate stores. If Safari is the one misbehaving, our guide to clearing the cache on an iPhone covers that side of it.

A faster route when only one site is stale

Wiping the whole cache to fix a single page is heavier than it needs to be, and it slows down every other site you use. Three narrower options exist.

Hard refresh. With the page open, press Ctrl+Shift+R on Windows or Cmd+Shift+R on a Mac. Chrome reloads and bypasses its cached copies for that page.

Empty cache and hard reload. Open DevTools first with Ctrl+Shift+I, or Cmd+Option+I on a Mac, then right-click the reload button and choose Empty Cache and Hard Reload. It is the thorough version of the shortcut above, and the menu item only appears while DevTools is open.

Clear one site's data. Click the icon to the left of the address bar, open Site settings, and use the clear-data control in the Usage section — labelled Clear data or Delete data depending on your version. This takes that site's cookies as well as its cached files, so it will sign you out of that one site.

What this does not do

Four things survive a cache clear, and mistaking them for the cache is the usual reason people leave this setting alone.

Your saved passwords. Chrome keeps those in its password manager, not in the cache. Ticking only Cached images and files leaves them where they are.

Your sign-ins. Session tokens live in cookies. Clearing the cache on its own does not log you out — ticking Cookies and other site data does, and that is the box to leave alone unless being signed out is the point. If it is, deleting cookies on an iPhone is a separate job with separate consequences.

Your bookmarks and history. Both are their own items in the same dialog. Leave them unticked and they stay.

Your other devices. Google's description of what Chrome Sync stores lists bookmarks, history, open tabs, saved passwords and payment information; the cache is not among them, so clearing it is a local job. One caveat worth reading before you tick extra boxes: Google's help page warns that when you are signed in to Chrome, deleting browsing data can also remove it from your other devices and your Google Account. If you tick history as well as the cache, expect that part to travel.

Common questions

How often should I do this? There is no schedule worth keeping. The cache exists to make browsing faster, and clearing it on a timer only makes the next few minutes slower. Do it when a site misbehaves or when you want the disk space, not as maintenance.

Will it speed Chrome up? Usually the opposite at first, because every site has to fetch its files again. Where clearing genuinely helps is a page that renders wrong or shows outdated content, which is a correctness problem rather than a speed one.

Which time range should I choose? All time, unless you have a reason not to. The shorter ranges only remove files cached inside that window, so a stylesheet Chrome stored last month survives a Last 24 hours clear and the stale page stays stale.

If the option isn't there

If the three-dot menu shows neither Delete browsing data nor Clear browsing data, two things usually explain it.

The first is version drift. Google has moved and renamed this entry more than once, and older builds bury it under More tools or inside Settings, then Privacy and security. The keyboard shortcut works regardless of where the menu item ended up, and updating Chrome brings the menu back in line with what Google's current help pages describe.

The second is managed policy. On a browser supplied by an employer or a school, an administrator can restrict what you delete — Google's admin documentation names a policy called AllowDeletingBrowserHistory, though it does not spell out how the dialog behaves once that policy is applied. If the entry is greyed out or missing on a managed device, whoever administers it is the only route.